Pride at stake for embattled England

With the Ashes won and lost, Australia and England will have dramatically different ambitions heading into the fourth Test starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day Tuesday (December 26).

Another commanding victory in Perth, by an innings, helped Steve Smith’s men open up an invincible 3-0 lead in the five-match series last week and regain the urn. Australia will now seek a repeat of the 5-0 sweep at home four years back while a beleaguered England will be scrapping for pride, particularly with question marks looming over several of its key senior players.

Both teams made one injury-driven change apiece to the XIs that did duty at the WACA ground. Australia will be without Mitchell Starc, its pace spearhead who is out with a bruised heel. Starc is Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the series with 19 scalps. He will be replaced by Jackson Bird, the fast bowler whose last Test appearance was exactly one year back, in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.

England will have to make do without the services of Craig Overton, one of its few bright spots on tour thus far. Overton has a fractured rib and makes way for Tom Curran, the 22-year-old quick from Surrey who will be making his Test debut.

Beset by off-field problems and finding Australia too hot to handle on the park, it has been a tour to forget so far for Joe Root’s team. To compound its problems, England has been let down by the experienced trio of Alastair Cook, the former captain, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali, who have struggled to pull their weight.

Root himself has come under the microscope after making just 176 runs in six innings at a modest 29.33, numbers that pale in comparison with his opposite number. Smith, who kicked off the series with a brilliant century in the first Test in Brisbane, followed it up with 239 in Perth and averages a whopping 142, one of the main reasons behind Australia’s dominant march.

England has been in touch briefly during the three games but hasn’t been able to grab its moments, suffering heavy losses by 10 wickets (Brisbane), 120 runs (Adelaide) and an innings and 41 runs (Perth). It will, however, take heart from the fact that it won at the MCG as recently as in 2010, though that will be tempered by the knowledge that Smith has made a century in each of his last three Boxing Day appearances in Melbourne.

Teams:

Australia: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.

England: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.